Andy Stern: 2010 or Bust for EFCA

Noting the large majority for Democrats in Congress, and the possibility that that may change after the 2010 elections, SEIU President Andy Stern said next year would be a ‘do-or-die’ year from Employee Free Choice Act supporters.

Stern said:

"The Democrats really have a historic and decisive moment, for anybody who runs a business there are moments where you sort of make big choices. They have 60 votes for the first time and probably the last time they're gonna have it. They have to decide if they are an army of one or an army of 60."

Stern challenged Democrats saying EFCA’s passage was “a question of whether they (Democrats) can act as a functioning, effective team.”

Stern then sounded a pessimistic tone saying, “I wouldn't bet with them,” with respect to the Democrats being able to move forward with the legislation.

EFCA Lingo

Various news outlets have picked up on this memo from the SEIU advising their employees on the proper language to use when speaking about the Employee Free Choice Act.

Here’s a couple examples of what you can expect to hear:

It’s not card-check, but majority signup.
A company isn’t anti-union, but anti-worker.
Don’t refer to it as a secret ballot system, but a company dominated system.

An SEIU spokesperson did not deny the authenticity of this memo. Rather, they are trying to “educate them (SEIU members) about the bill.” This is according to Christy Setzer.

Check out the entire memo here.

Who's next SEIU--Webelos and Brownies?

As an Eagle Scout myself (Troop 110, Covington, LA), I was going to contact the Boy Scouts of America National Council to submit an idea for a new Merit Badge called "Unions 101" but there is no need. More on that in a minute.

Leave it to the SEIU to attack a Boy Scout for performing 250 hours of service work for his community of Allentown, as he works toward his Eagle Scout badge. Nick Balzano, president of the local SEIU, told the Allentown City Council that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing local Boy Scout, Kevin Anderson, to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Are you kidding me? What are you Darth Vader? Well, his name is Kevin Anderson and he is a junior and varsity soccer player at Southern Lehigh High School who is on his way to being a Eagle Scout with Troop 301 in Center Valley, you freaking piece of doo-doo. Yeah, doo-doo...after all I'm an Eagle Scout and we have standards to uphold. Try it sometime Andy Stern...

You see the city laid off 39 SEIU members back in July and the union says, "there's to be no volunteers. No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path."

Well try volunteering then, you lazy sack of...

"We would hope that the well-intentioned efforts of an Eagle Scout candidate would not be challenged by the union," said Mayor Ed Pawloski.

Some day the unions will learn that instead of playing the "woe is me card", they could have just volunteered and made this a good PR story for themselves. But that's on a parallel universe where unions aren't stupid.

Meanwhile, back at the Boy Scouts of America, here is some trivia for you. There is an actual merit badge called American Labor and it's truly fascinating to behold. Check out the link to read about it for yourself. They did not have this one when I was in Scouting. Any Scout Leaders out there that need a Labor Relations resource, please contact me and I'd be happy to assist any Scouts trying to get their American Labor merit badge.

Requirement #4

Explain what is meant by the adversarial model of labor-management relations, compared with a cooperative-bargaining style.

Hmmn? Might I suggest the book Union Proof as a primer...

Andy Stern's Latest Comments on EFCA

With the healthcare legislation receiving nearly all news coverage from Congress- and unions spending most of their time in support of it- the Employee Free Choice Act has not been talked about in serious discussions for some time. Don’t think unions have forgotten about it.

You can get the sense of labor's priorities from this appearence by SEIU President Andy Stern on CNBC last week. While most of the talk was about healthcare, he was asked about EFCA and tried to play it as an economic issue. Specifically, he sounded as though he expects to see the bill brought up after the healthcare debate is over. He mentioned a compromise bill which he indicated he would support but he would like to see a vote on card check.



And for those wondering if Stern knows what he is talking about, think about this: he has made 20 visits to the White House since Barack Obama was sworn into office.